I have been listening to this song a lot recently and the only information I have about it is that it is popular in Jewish circles. It is in Yiddish, but the words are so close to German, that they sound rather like an East European dialect. It is a love song with a beautiful melody. I want to learn it and perform it. I have the words and music and everything, but I would like to know a little more about the song, its author and its history if anyone could enlighten me.

Ashkenazi Yiddish, or Jewish German, is a form spoken by the Jews of Germany and the East European countries. Its base is the Middle High German language, with Hebrew and Slavic words inserted.

This text is entirely German, with one Hewbrew word with German flection: benkn (to think of, to await, to long for)

And then there is Sephardic, the language of the Jews of Spain, naturally on the base of the old Spanish language.

The text with a rough translation: 1. Oy dortn dortn ibern vaserlO there, there over the water Oy dortn dortn ibern brikO there, there over the bridge Fartribn hot men mikh in di vaytene lenderThey have driven me out into the wide lands Un benken benk ikh nokh dir tzurik.And I'm longing back for you.

Thanks very much everyone, but what I am really looking for is some background information to the song. I have a lovely version by Zupfgeigenhansel, but I always like to know a bit about a song before I try to perform it.

the lyrics and translation given above are from Zemerl. The second link given by Wolfgang is interesting for it gives Yiddish and German side by side [maybe Wolfgang can give us an English translation for Papirossn/Zigaretten song on the same recording/webpage, or maybe I'll look it up at Zemerl?]. According to Oksana Sowiak's notes, the context of "Oj, dortn, dortn" is the large-scale emigration of Jews from Eastern Europe in the late 19th century and "ibern vaserl" (over the water) refers to America.

and Wolfgang's first link is also very useful for it gives musical notation

Thanks again. I was aware of the background of the Yiddish and I had already tracked down the music on the net, although it would have been easy enough to lift it from the Zupfgeigerhansel album. The meaning of the lyrics is simple enough for anyone with a smattering of German (which I have). I also have the good fortune that my girlfriend speaks Russian, which usually fills in most of the gaps. What is interesting, is that you have given me a clue as to its origin. That context of it being against a background of mass migration is particularly poignant. I really hope other posters appear to shed more light on it.

The best Yiddish songbooks I've found art the three Pearls of Yiddish Song volumes edited by Eleanor and Joseph Mlotek, Pearls of Yiddish Song, Songs of Generations and Mir Trogn a Gesang. This is from Mir Trogn a Gesang, almost exactly what Wilfired posted, but with an additional verse. This particular version was published in 1927, but Eleanor Mlotek found one version published in 1901.

Oh, far away, across the seas, my love is parted from me. How many evenings we spent together and how many tears we shed until we knew of our love! Oh, your eyes are like black cherries and your lips are like pale rose paper! May your fingers be like pen and ink so that you may write to me often!

I didn't find any additional information about the background of the song, but I guess it's a help to know it goes back at least to 1901.

Source is given on the 2nd of Masato's links:PapirosnPapirossen, both with Engl. trl., the second one better (in my humble opinion).

I don't think that the song is related to emigration, especially to the USA. The text clearly cites a water and a bridge, and a bridge over the ocean has still to be shown. Wandering away was common for business reasons, and songs about parted lovers are legion all over the world in many languages. It is a general and common human experience; so I think any questions about its origin can't be answered. In folk songs you can only state who sang it when and where, and when it was first recorded.

Variants: in Zemerl it is Fartribn hot men mikh = they have driven me away, in Ruth Rubin's Treasury it is Fartribn hostu mikh = you have driven me away.

Thanks again Wilfried and Joe. At least the age of the song is interesting. If you can't learn everything about a subject, you can at least, always try to find out more! I guess it will always be that way with folk songs.

Alanabit, could you possibly send mi this version [Zupfgeigenhansel]? I can't find it anywhere. our history teacher played it for us at the lesson and I fallen in love with this song. it is beautiful and sad.. can you help me? :3

As you are not a member, I can't contact you through Mudcat. However, you can click on the PM next to my name at the top of this post if you join up. Membership is free here, and it takes only two minutes to sign up. You can also reach me via my e-mail address, which you can get from the members pages. I will be glad to help.

If I may comment on the link, I would like to say that moving as both the pictures and the song are, they are only tenuously linked. The song is not directly linked to the Holocaust, and probably predates it by many years. However, it does no harm to show again how much would have been lost had the evil of those times prevailed.